I’ve never been a Death Metal fan. Nope, for the longest time I’ve thought the genre was nothing but noise, with vocals that were grating, and instrumentation that sounded like stoned monkeys having fits. Then the iconic Septicflesh came into my life a few years back, but even then I really didn’t want to dive in. Come 2014, and one album surprised me. An album that surprised me so much, I put the whole thing on my MP3 player. So without further adieu, lets take a look at their 2014 release Titan, and see why I enjoy this album so much, as well as if it deserves it’s name.
Background
Their third release since their reunion in 2007, Titan is also their third album to continue down their new path of Symphonic Death Metal. Calling upon the Philharmonic Orchestra of Prague, Septicflesh had recorded their instrumentation & vocal works first, then had the orchestra & choirs do their work. This was all completed from September to October of 2013, with the band’s portion in Devasoundz studios in Athens, Greece, and the orchestra/choir portion in Smecky Studios in Prague/Czech Republic. When everything was done, Titan was released on June 20, 2014.
Basic Description
Titanic!
Yeah yeah, that sounds like a dumb way to describe something, but I’m not kidding when I say that! This album truly deserves the title of Titan: the symphony is sweeping & moving, the instrumentation is incredible, and the vocals, despite it not being my preference, were powerful beyond measure. There’s the typical Death Metal growl, but there’s more clear singing, and this album even makes use of a boy’s & girl’s choir from time to time. Everything melds together, and creates a fantastic whole that’s incredibly pleasing to listen to. If you are even remotely curious about this band, and perhaps Death Metal in general, you need to go find this album!
Best Song
For whatever reason, I find myself attracted to the second track on Titan, Burn. More than any song off of this album, this is the one I listen to the most. Blending the band’s patented style of Death Metal, they also harness the power of the orchestra at one beautiful point towards the end, and even some elements of Speed Metal, Burn is a wonderful song to listen to. It’s also a great tune to introduce new people to Death Metal, so be sure to share it as often as you can.
Burn
Despite Burn being my favorite track on here, every other song on Titan is a blast to listen to also! From the opening track War In Heaven, to the title track of the album halfway through, to closing track The First Immortal, the whole experience of Titan is something that few metal albums out there can accomplish.
Worst Song
Nothing on Titan can be considered a worst or bad song! The totality of this entire album is perfect in every way. From the vocals, to the instrumentation, to everything else, this whole album moves along brutally & seamlessly, with no hiccup in sight!
Overall Impression & Rating
I’m going to be brief with this. Titan, simply put, is one of the finest examples of Symphonic Death Metal there is out in the universe of Heavy Metal. To me at least, Titan shatters most if not all stereotypes of Death Metal, and throws those shattered stereotypes into the trash. Buy this album! You’re doing a big disservice if you’re ignoring your curiosity about the most titanic record of 2014!
Titan gets a highly deserved 10 out of 10, the first perfect rating for the Heavy Metal Otaku! I’m breaking out the champaign for this one!
Well, this was my first look into the realm of Death Metal. I’ll be taking another look at the genre come the next album review, but that’ll have to wait a bit. April is going to be “Type-O Negative” month, so be on the lookout for some special content coming. See you soon!
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For a better explanation of the background of Titan, check out the links below:
(Part 1)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0UpkbTXJzw
(Part 2)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-x2ygfA0vNc
(Part 3)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LP0cPJQ6bIM
(Part 4)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kLe2UnWPsBA
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